Details of NASA's FY 2002 Budget

The Budget for Fiscal Year 2002: Space flight, research, and
supporting activities:

Function and Program

2000Actual

2001Estimate

2002Estimate

2003Estimate

2004Estimate

2005Estimate

2006Estimate

Science, aeronautics and technology

4,964

5,663

6,302

7,249

7,961

8,358

8,701

Human space flight

5,488

5,451

7,296

6,881

6,545

6,439

6,494

Mission support

2,069

2,191

--

--

--

--

--

Other NASA programs

20

23

24

25

25

26

26

Total, Space flight,research, and supporting
activities

12,541

13,328

13,622

14,155

14,531

14,823

15,221

National Aeronautics and Space
Administration (NASA)

The budget proposes $13.6 billion for NASA
activities in this function. NASA serves as
the lead Federal agency for R&D in civil
space activities, working to expand frontiers
in air and space to serve America and
improve the quality of life on Earth. To
carry out these activities, NASA pursues
this vision through balanced investment in
five enterprises: Space Science, Earth Science,
Biological and Physical Research, Aero-Space
Technology, and Human Exploration and
Development of Space.

NASA's achievements in 2000 included:
launching Terra, the first mission in the
Earth Observing System series of spacecraft;
discovering potential evidence of recent liquid
water flows on the surface of Mars from
the Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft; securing
the arrival of the Shoemaker Near Earth
Asteroid Rendezvous mission at the asteroid
Eros, the first spacecraft ever to orbit an
asteroid; and continuing successful assembly
of the International Space Station in orbit.

Space Science: Space Science programs, for
which the budget proposes $2.8 billion, are designed
to enhance our understanding of how
the universe was created, what fundamental
rules govern its evolution, how stars and planets
evolve and die, how space phenomena affect
Earth, and the possible existence of life
beyond Earth. In 2000, NASA developed and
launched Hubble Servicing Mission 3A, the
Imager for Magnetopause-to-Aurora Expansion
mission, and contributions to the X-ray Multi-Mirror
and Cluster-2 missions, with an average
one-percent cost overrun. The High Energy
Solar Spectroscopic Imager mission and the
Thermal, Ionosphere, and Mesosphere
Energetics and Dynamics mission did not
launch as planned in 2000 due to spacecraft
development issues and launch vehicle delays.
The Mars Polar Lander mission was lost when
it did not land successfully on Mars as planned
in 2000. Although scheduled to launch in 2000,
the High-Energy Transient Explorer mission
was launched shortly after the end of the year.

For 2000, the NASA Advisory Council,
an independent panel, indicated that 34 of
65 performance plan objectives and 18 of
19 science objectives for Space Science have
been successfully met. In 2002:

NASA will successfully complete its performance
goal for design and development
of projects to support future Space Science
research. These development projects represent
near-term investments that will
allow future research in pursuit of the
strategic plan's science objectives. Completion
will be demonstrated by a successful
rating from the NASA Advisory Council
or an equivalent senior-level external review
committee. This rating will be based
on achievement of six of the eight pre-determined
performance objectives, four of
which address launch readiness for the
Space Infrared Telescope Facility, the
Galaxy Evolution Explorer, the Comet
Nucleus Tour mission, and the Hubble
Space Telescope Servicing Mission 3B.

NASA's annual performance goals in support
of strategic plan Space Science objectives
will be rated as being successfully
met by NASA's Advisory Council or an
equivalent senior-level external review
committee. Examples of these objectives
include: learn how galaxies, stars, and
planets form, interact, and evolve; understand
the formation and evolution of the
Solar System and the Earth within it; and
understand our changing Sun and its effects
throughout the Solar System. Each
of these performance goals calls for obtaining
at least 80 percent of the expected scientific
data from operating missions that
support the relevant science objective.

NASA will continue to expand the integration
of education and enhanced public
understanding within its Space Science
research and flight mission programs.
Performance objectives in support of this
effort call for Space Science-funded education
and public outreach activities for
every funded Space Science mission, which
will result in projects in at least 40 States.
These projects will range from elementary
schools to graduate students and post-graduates.
In addition, Space Science will
ensure that Enterprise-funded projects are
underway in Historically Black Colleges
and Universities, Hispanic Serving Institutions,
and Tribal Colleges.

Earth Science: Earth Science programs, for
which the budget proposes $1.5 billion, focus
on the effects of natural and human-induced
changes on the global environment through
long-term, space-based observation of Earth's
land, oceans, and atmospheric processes. In
2000, NASA successfully launched five spacecraft
(Terra, ACRIMSAT, the Shuttle Radar
Topography Mission, and two National Oceanic
and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
weather satellites (GOES-L, NOAA-L)), and
delivered four instruments to international
spacecraft, with an average seven-percent cost
overrun. Launches of spacecraft expected in
2001 have been delayed: Aqua until no earlier
than July 2001, IceSAT until December 2001,
and Triana pending shuttle availability. Users
have routinely received earth science data
products within five days of receipt or production
of the requested data product.

The NASA Advisory Council concluded that
43 of 47 Earth Science performance targets
were successfully met. In 2002:

NASA will successfully launch and operate
at least two of three planned spacecraft,
IceSAT, Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment
and the Solar Radiation and Cli-mate
Experiment within 10 percent of
their schedules and budgets. For those
spacecraft already successfully launched,
NASA Earth Science will obtain at least
80 percent of the expected scientific data;

NASA will increase by 50 percent the volume
of climate data it archives over the
2001 target of 442 terabytes, increase the
number of products delivered from its archives
by 10 percent over the 2001 target
of 5.4 million products delivered, and
make the data available to users within
five days; and,

NASA's Advisory Council will be able to
rate all near-term Earth Science objectives
as being met or on schedule. Examples of
these objectives include: observe and document
land cover and land use change and
impacts on sustained resource productivity;
and understand the causes and impacts
of long-term climate variations on
global and regional scales.

Aero-Space Technology: Aero-Space Technology
programs, for which the budget pro-
poses $1.5 billion, work with other NASA enterprises,
industry, and academia to develop
and test technologies that reduce risk and improve
cost performance for future spacecraft
and space transportation systems. In 2000,
NASA initiated assembly of the X-37 flight test
vehicle. The X-33 and X-34 programs did not
perform flight tests as planned in 2000, due
to technical problems encountered during development.
Both programs have been canceled.
Depending on selections, NASA will develop
additional 2002 Aero-Space Technology goals
based on Second Generation Reusable Launch
Vehicle awards in 2001. In 2002:

NASA will perform the rollout and begin
test flights of the X-37 vehicle. This vehicle
will serve as a platform on which to
test and verify advanced technologies in
the area of lightweight composite airframes,
integrated vehicle health monitoring,
and thermal protection systems.

The Space Base program will complete
working prototypes of over 40 microscaled
and low-power electronic spacecraft and
sensor components. These components can
lead to future science spacecraft that are
the functional equivalent or better of current
spacecraft but with less than one-tenth
the volume and mass.

Human Exploration and Development of
Space: Human Exploration and Development
of Space (HEDS) programs, for which the
budget proposes $7.3 billion, focus on the use
of human skills and expertise in space. In
2000, the Space Shuttle flew four successful
missions, including the Hubble Space Telescope
Servicing Mission 3A that replaced failing
gyros on the Hubble. The Shuttle Radar
Topography Mission, a joint Department of Defense/
NASA payload to study the earth, successfully
mapped over 98 percent of the available
terrain. Two flights to the International
Space Station delivered equipment and supplies
to set the stage for future assembly missions
and to prepare for the first Expedition
crew. Improvements to the Space Shuttle system
achieved an additional 10-percent increase
in predicted reliability over the 1999 levels,
and completed the first flight of a new upgraded
cockpit. Space Shuttle operations continued
to perform well and observed an average
of six anomalies per flight, achieved 100
payloads, and achieved a 12-month flight preparation
cycle. The International Space Station
program delivered, as planned, two-thirds of
the total U.S. flight hardware to the launch
site, and also conducted successful operations
throughout the year. However, projected cost
overruns have required a major restructuring
of the program in 2002, which should control
cost growth, while enabling accommodation of
contributions from international partners. In
2002:

NASA will successfully complete a majority
of planned operations schedules and
milestones for 2002 for the International
Space Station. For example, NASA plans
to conduct permanent on-orbit operations
with crew support dedicated to assembly,
vehicle operations, payload operations, and
early research, and conduct the first Space
Shuttle flight to the Space Station dedicated
to research; and

NASA will ensure that Space Shuttle safety,
reliability, availability, and cost will
improve, by achieving eight or fewer flight
anomalies per mission, 100 percent on-orbit
mission success for primary payload
on-orbit operations, and a 12-month manifest
preparation time. NASA will complete
the implementation of the Alternate Turboprop
to improve the safety of flight operations
and continue safety and
supportability upgrades to maintain Space
Shuttle infrastructure.

Biological and Physical Research:
NASA's Biological and Physical Research programs,
for which the budget proposes $380
million, focus on basic and applied research
to support the safe and effective human exploration
of space, as well as the use of the space
environment as a laboratory for increasing our
understanding of biological, physical, and
chemical processes. In 2000, the Biological and
Physical Research Enterprise was created as
a separate entity from the HEDS Enterprise
to provide a greater focus on biological and
physical research. The new Office of Biological
and Physical Research (OBPR) and its predecessor
organization, the Office of Life and
Microgravity Sciences and Applications, conducted
significant commercial research on the
May Space Shuttle mission to the Space Sta-
era by conducting the first long-dura-tion
experiment on the International Space
Station. In 2002:

OBPR will continue to build a productive
scientific community to utilize its space assets,
expanding agency support to approxi-mately
1,000 scientific investigations (from
877 reported in 1999); and

NASA will collaborate with the National
Cancer Institute to develop and test cutting-
edge methods and instruments to support
molecular-level diagnostics for physiological
and chemical processes monitoring.

Management Reform Goals

To fulfill the President's commitment to
make Government more market-based, NASA
will pursue management reforms to promote
innovation, open Government activities to
competition, and improve the depth and quality
of NASA's R&D expertise. These reforms,
described below, will help reduce NASA's
operational burden and focus resources on
Government-unique R&D at NASA.

International Space Station. NASA will
undertake reforms and develop a plan to
ensure that future Space Station costs will
remain within the President's 2002 Budget
plan. Key elements of this plan will: restore
cost estimating credibility, including
an external review to validate cost estimates
and requirements and suggest additional
options as needed; transfer Space
Station program management reporting
from the Johnson Space Center in Texas
to NASA Headquarters until a new program
management plan is developed and
approved; and open future Station hard-ware
and service procurements to innovation
and cost-saving ideas through competition,
including launch services and a
Non-Government Organization for Space
Station research.

Space Shuttle Privatization. NASA will
aggressively pursue Space Shuttle privatization
opportunities that improve the
Shuttle's safety and operational efficiency.
This reform will include continued implementation
of planned and new privatization
efforts through the Space Shuttle
prime contract and further efforts to safely
and effectively transfer civil service positions
and responsibilities to the Space
Shuttle contractor.

Space Launch Opportunities. NASA's
Space Launch Initiative provides commercial
industry with the opportunity to meet
NASA's future launch needs, including
human access to space, with new launch
vehicles that promise to dramatically reduce
cost and improve safety and reli-ability.
NASA will undertake management
reforms within the Space Launch Initiative,
including: ensuring vehicle affordability
and competitiveness by limiting requirements
to essential needs through
commercial services; creating requirements
flexibility, where possible, to accommodate
innovative industry proposals;
validating requirements through external,
independent review; implementing a well-integrated
risk-reduction investment strategy
that makes investments only after requirements
and vehicle options are well-understood,
to ensure a viable competition
by the middle of the decade for initial Station
cargo and crew launch services; ensuring
no set-aside funds for non-industry
vehicles like the Space Shuttle; and
achieving affordable, near-term successes
in Next Generation Launch Services and
Alternative Access to the Space Station
and integrating these near-term activities
into longer-term planning.

Critical Capabilities. U.S. academia and
industry provide a rich R&D resource that
NASA can tap to strengthen its mission
capabilities. NASA will develop an integrated,
long-term agency plan that ensures
a national capability to support
NASA's mission by: identifying NASA's
critical capabilities and, through the use
of external reviews, determining which capabilities
must be retained by NASA and
which can be discontinued or led outside
the agency; expanding collaboration with
industry, universities and other agencies,
and outsourcing appropriate activities to
fully leverage outside expertise; and pursuing
civil service reforms for capabilities
that NASA must retain, to ensure recruitment
and retention of top science, engineering
and management talent at NASA.